Open & Close/Afrodisiac

Artist: Fela Kuti
Label: Mca
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 731454924023
EAN: 0731454924023
ASIN: B00004XT21

Release Date: 2001-07-17

Related Categories:

General

| Africa | International | Styles | Music

Nigeria

| Africa | International | Styles | Music

General

| International | Styles | Music

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Listmania:

Essential Fela
The Sounds of Africa
Afrobeat / Afrofunk
music that is stimulating
Real Funk For Real People Pt. 2 - heavily funkified tracks
nothing but fela
The Best Records Ever
Various Albums for a Well-Rounded Record Collection

Tracks:

Open & Close
Swegbe And Pako
Gbagada Gbagada Gbogodo Gbogodo
Alu Jon Jonki Jon
Jeun Ko Ku
Eko Ile
Je'Nwi Temi (Don't Gag Me)

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Expensive Shit / He Miss Road
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Liberation Afro Beat, Vol. 1

Customer Reviews:

Kicks Out Some Serious Jams.......2005-08-08

The tunes on "Afrodisiac" are the older ones on here, they date back to just before 1971 when both of these albums were apparently recorded. The two on Side 1 are probably (I won't pretend I'm any type of authority on Fela - I'm just a beginner at this point) fairly typical of his early "Afrobeat" sound. They stay on the same chords and generate a boatload of tribal rhythmic intensity. Well-recorded, nothing wrong with them at all, good but not great music. But then the two tracks on Side 2 - holy cow! James Brown in space on amphetamine or something like that. Absolutely great, intense, imaginitive stuff.

"Open and Close"'s 3 tracks are of a similar level of quality and imagination (and intensity). Track 2 is the most amazing of the three; when Fela got those horns going on creative lines, there's nothing quite like his band. This probably is a good place to start investigating Fela's music. It's an extremly fine collection of music, and the sound on this reissue is clear and strong and beautiful.

Fela Kuti lets the good times roll.......2003-02-26

Open & Close/ Afrodisiac comes very close to shaking your butt for you! The instrumentation is tight, and the sub-tempos, which are noticable in most of the songs, create a very "busy" sound without being washed out or hyper. Percussion throughout is very African influenced, and the horns add a swinging latin/big band sound. While the bass riffs and muted guitar can get a bit repetitious, the overall music keeps the listener quite interested for the duration of the often 12 minute-plus songs. A must for anyone that appreciates great "get together" music. Take it to your next one; your friends will be happy you put it on, and you'll have the pleasure of taking the real party home at the end of the night! Go, Fela! GO!

Glad to see a new reissue of this material.......2001-11-15

I first heard the track "Open and Close" on WKCR (NYC/Columbia U.) on their late night soul, funk, and afro-beat program Night Train. I was just getting into Fela, and I was completely blown away by this particular track, which I still think contains some of Fela's best vocal work. Unfortunately, the album of the same name was only available on a fairly rare import reissue.

Now Open and Close appears together with the enormously funky album Afrodisiac (I don't remember what it formerly appeared with), and the pairing combines to make what is probably my favorite Fela disc. The horns are bright and fiery, the grooves are tight, and they range from super fast funk to molasses-slow grinds. When Amazon finally gets around to making an "Essential Fela" list (it's about time!), I recommend they include this.

The Sound of Revolt.......2001-11-15

Nigerian Genius fleshing out his extravegance. Bass-laden soul music, flaring horns, a wild Jimmie Smith-like organ, and protest lyrics satirizing Nigerian oppression, militarism, and the ignorance of the 'civilized.' A must for all.

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